Sun, China Unicom Team on Wireless Java

At the 2002 Telecom Asia conference, Sun also announced new standard for Java-based mobile devices.

Sun Microsystems Inc. Monday announced new Java initiatives in the wireless space at the ITU [International Telecommunications Union] Telecom Asia conference in Hong Kong.
For starters, Sun announced that the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) 2.0 standard has been completed and that the final MIDP 2.0 specification, along with the reference implementation, compatibility test suite and beta version of the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) Wireless Toolkit 2.0 are available.
Sun officials said MIDP 2.0 includes new features such as enhanced graphics, audio, video, security and games support.

The MIDP is a set of Java application programming interfaces (APIs) for J2ME development. Along with the Connected Limited Device Configuration, MIDP represents a platform for building and deploying mobile Java-based applications for a broad range of devices.

MIDP 2.0 better enables developers to port applications across devices. It features a new Game API and also adds enhanced connectivity features, a new server "push" model, over-the-air provisioning, better security and the ability to add WAV files to applications, the company said.
Meanwhile, Sun also announced a new deal with China Unicom Ltd., based in Hong Kong, in which the two companies will work together to build a Java-based wireless data services network to support China Telecoms 60 million mobile users.
According to Sun, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Unix system maker will deliver products and services to China Unicom, with the first J2ME-based applications becoming available in the first quarter of next year. Sun did not disclose the value of the deal or offer any projections on the opportunity.

Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.